Unreal Hate and PR Agenda Against Rohit Sharma: A Closer Look Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25

Unreal Hate and PR Agenda Against Rohit Sharma: A Closer Look

India kickstarted the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 with an impressive victory, defeating Australia by 295 runs in the opening Test at Perth. Despite this historic win, India’s performance in the Pink-ball Test at Adelaide Oval was lackluster, ending in a 10-wicket loss.

However, what truly drew attention was the unexpected media onslaught targeting India Captain Rohit Sharma. Various media personalities, channels, and social media users critiqued Sharma for almost every aspect of the loss. This trend isn't new, as previously, driven statements forced Rohit to step down from his opening spot for KL Rahul, despite his consistent success as an opener.

Rohit Sharma's Leadership Under Scrutiny

When considering past captains, Virat Kohli faced defeats in England (2018), South Africa (2018), New Zealand (2020), and South Africa (2021) but was never subjected to the same level of criticism. Notably, India’s last Pink Ball Test in Australia in 2020, under Kohli, ended with India being bowled out for 36. Despite such setbacks, Kohli was seldom scrutinized like Rohit Sharma is today, suggesting a concerted PR effort to undermine the current captain.

Debate Over Rohit Sharma's Batting Position

Legendary cricketers Sunil Gavaskar and Ricky Ponting discussed Rohit Sharma’s batting order during the second Test against Australia in Adelaide. Rohit, who missed the series opener in Perth, batted at number 6 to accommodate KL Rahul. Gavaskar supported this decision, while Ponting disagreed, arguing that Rohit should remain at the top.

Ponting noted, “KL Rahul has been a fringe player around this team for years. Rohit Sharma should open the batting. The only spot for Rohit Sharma now seems to be number 6, which might be where he stays for the rest of his career.”

KL Rahul's Test Performance

Over the past five years, KL Rahul's performance in Test cricket has been subpar, yet media narratives portray him as a superior batter compared to Rohit Sharma. Rahul has only scored nine fifty-plus innings during this period, which highlights his struggles.

PR Agenda Against Rohit Sharma

It appears that a coordinated PR agenda is actively working against Rohit Sharma. Various media outlets and social media influencers have consistently highlighted his shortcomings while downplaying his successes. This campaign seems to be aimed at undermining his credibility and position as India's cricket captain. The consistency and intensity of these attacks suggest a well-orchestrated effort rather than spontaneous criticism.

Reports indicate that certain PR agencies might be influencing sports media narratives to favor specific players over Rohit Sharma. By selectively promoting positive stories about his competitors and emphasizing negative aspects of his performances, these agencies create a skewed public perception. This tactic not only affects Sharma's reputation but also impacts team morale and fan support.

Impact on Team Dynamics

This targeted campaign has led to unnecessary pressure on Rohit Sharma, affecting his performance and decision-making on the field. Team dynamics have also suffered, as players are constantly under scrutiny, leading to an environment of insecurity and mistrust. The favoritism shown towards players like KL Rahul and Virat Kohli further exacerbates these issues, as it disrupts the natural selection process based on merit.

Moreover, this agenda-driven narrative creates a divisive atmosphere among fans. Instead of rallying behind their captain and team, fans are split into factions, each supporting their preferred players. This division weakens the unified support that the team needs, especially during crucial series like the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Conclusion

The ongoing PR campaign against Rohit Sharma is not just an attack on an individual but a detrimental force against the entire Indian cricket team. It is essential for stakeholders in Indian cricket to recognize these manipulative tactics and support their captain. By focusing on performance and merit rather than media-driven narratives, the team can foster a healthier, more cohesive environment.

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INDvSA T20 World Cup: Netizens slammed KL Rahul for consistent failures

Perth: Team India opening batter KL Rahul with his worst form for the third consecutive match in the T20 World Cup 2022, Rahul was dismissed for a single-digit score, having scored 4 and 9 in the last two matches. After two poor outings against Pakistan and Netherlands, expectations were huge from Rahul to put an end to his barren patch but all he could deliver was a 9-run knock in the match against the Proteas. 

KL Rahul was dismissed for just 9 runs in the T20 World Cup 2022 match against South Africa. In the 3 matches so far, Rahul has scored 4, 9 and 9 runs.

Interestingly KL Rahul's poor numbers against top teams in T20I multinational games have been criticized on by netizens, Rahul averages 10.75 against top teams in such major events. Whereas his numbers against weaker teams are far superior.

Thus netizens lashed out at the batter for being a minnow basher.

The Indian batter has been facing criticism for his low scores from the cricket fraternity and against South Africa in Perth, Rahul failed to find feet at any stage of the innings. The batter did hit a six in the third over, but failed to middle the delivery more often than not before handing a simple catch at first slip off Lungi Ngidi.

Another key aspect to the Indian opening slot is the fact KL Rahul's T20I numbers on Australian soil is poor. KL averages 16.25 on Australian soil in the shorter format with only a single 50+ score which came in a bilateral game.

Netizens slammed the Indian management for inclusion of KL in the XI even after consistent failures.

Amid the continued poor efforts of Indian top-order against quality bowling line-up (India were 31/4 against Pakistan last Sunday), Rahul’s horrendous outings have been prime concern as he misfired against Netherlands as well.

However Rahul's form remained a concern as his tournament aggregate after three matches stand at 22 runs while facing 35 balls.

The question arises, Is KL Rahul even a vice captaincy material? Shouldn't the BCCI consider someone like a Shreyas Iyer or Suryakumar Yadav as all format vice captain instead of a player who cannot have impact on the game with his performance?

Team India will play Bangladesh in the next fixture on Wednesday.

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WT20 2021: Major reasons for India's poor performance in the opening games

Mumbai: India's run has been derailed after two crushing defeats against arch rivals Pakistan and WTC winners New Zealand and the performance that they have put in is not worthy of a semi-final spot even though technically keeping their hopes alive.

Major reasons for the losses:

Captaincy:

The fall of leader Virat Kohli as Team India's skipper in the shortest format of the game seems pretty evident following poor results for the Men in Blue in their opening two games in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2021 and the ICC events under Kohli as captain. Kohli lacked game sense and execution of plans. India in the opening two games could pick only 2 wickets both by Jasprit Bumrah.

Kohli as a captain looked clueless with no innovation in terms of containing runs or forcing false shots from the opposition batters. The opposition batters had free flowing runs with easy singles and odd boundaries. All in all Kohli as a captain is being exposed prominently in the recent times, Champions Trophy 2017 Final, World Cup 2019 Semi Final, WTC 2021 Final. Virat Kohli as captain has crumbled under pressure with his decision making.

Gambhir in a recent interview highlighted that the pressure on India and New Zealand was similar with regards to their position in the tournament as he argued that despite such a situation, Kiwi skipper Williamson's calmness had a more positive impact on his teammates than Kohli's enthusiasm had on Indian players.

"Kane doesn't react to everything but look at the calmness. Sometimes in these crunch games, it's your calmness that's much more important than probably your enthusiasm or reaction to everything," added Gambhir.

"You don't have to be on the face all the time. You don't have to show your emotions [always], sometimes just your positivity and calmness can be equally positive [for] the group as well. Just by reacting to everything doesn't mean that you are more passionate than someone else," Gambhir slammed Kohli.

Team Selections:

The most debatable topic for most cricket fans around the world with India's XI in both the games, Kohli's decision to play Hardik Pandya as a pure batsman proved to be a disaster. Hardik Pandya had not bowled a single over in IPL 2021, though his fitness was not assessed in the WT20 campaign. Hardik Pandya could only score 34 runs in 2 games at a strike rate of 106.25 in the death overs.

However Kohli's decision to not even consider him as an option is something that many in Indian cricket feel, "borders on stubbornness"

Not playing a proper leg spinner(Rahul Chahar) was a major setback as well, while other successful teams in the WT20 so far have played the likes of Adil Rashid(7), Rashid Khan(7), Adam Zampa(5), Wanindu Hasaranga(11) and had a major impact in the wickets column.

It is to be noted that Rohit is regarded by many as one of the best batsmen in white-ball cricket and it is likely that he would become the captain of India in T20I after current skipper Virat Kohli steps down at the end of T20 World Cup. On Sunday, Rohit was asked to bat at number three and Ishan Kishan was sent with KL Rahul to open the innings for India. Such experiments in a virtual knockout game was unexpected.

Rishabh Pant's selection in the team is highly questionable too, Rishabh Pant a flamboyant batsman in Test cricket is not the same Rishabh Pant in T20I cricket for India. Rishabh Pant's career T20I strike rate is even lesser than Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni who played in the middle order. Thus Rishabh Pant not living upto the tag of being an aggressive wicket keeper batsman dented India's chances in the middle overs

Middle order puddle:

India's middle order is a highly discussed topic in the recent past, Indian team has always been blessed with flourishing top order batsman from Sachin, Sehwag, Ganguly to Rohit, Dhawan, Kohli.

Since the likes of Yuvraj, Dhoni, Raina disappeared India's middle order has always been a worrying fact leading into any major event. With Shreyas Iyer missing out of the 15 member squad after recovering from the shoulder injury Pant, Hardik, Kohli (at 4 vs NZ) struggled.

Interestingly Rishabh Pant and Virat Kohli in the recently concluded IPL had a strike rate of 104 and 108 respectively in the middle overs.

No breakthroughs in the Powerplay:

India's seam bowling has struggled in the opening games, Shami and Bhuvneshwar looked pretty ordinary. The lone wicket taker in game against the Kiwi's Jasprit Bumrah bowled with execution and skills.

India clearly felt the need for a seamer who could swing the ball upfront in the powerplay and make in rows, Deepak Chahar was kept in the reserves and India clearly missed his services.

In the recent IPL, Deepak Chahar picked 14 wickets at 32.21 bowling mostly in the first 6 overs.

India's next WT20 clash is against Afghanistan with lots of experience playing in UAE with two world class spinners. This will be one match where if India wins, they wouldn't get any credit but if they lose, all hell will break loose.

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No Rohit Sharma, No Virat Kohli for limited overs tour in Sri Lanka

Mumbai: BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on Sunday said that the Indian team will tour Sri Lanka in July for a limited overs bilateral series without the Big names. Skipper Virat Kohli and Vice-Captain Rohit Sharma will not be part of the tour as they will be engaged in a marquee five-match Test series in England.

"We have planned a white ball series for the senior men's team during the month of July where they will play T20 Internationals and ODIs in Sri Lanka," Ganguly said in an interaction.

"Yes, it will be a team of white ball specialists. It will be a different team," the former India captain said, making it clear that the cricket board also has the preparation of white ball regulars in mind.

There will be at least 5 T20 Internationals and may be three ODIs in Sri Lanka. "The BCCI president is very keen that all our top players are match ready and since England doesn't have a white ball leg the month of July can be utilized well," a BCCI source said while explaining the logic behind the tour.

India's tour of England will end on September 14 and with the schedule of the remainder of IPL yet to be chalked out, the BCCI would want the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Yuzvendra Chahal to be match ready.

This will give the team a chance to try out new IPL finds, like whether it will be Chahal, Rahul Chahar or Rahul Tewatia, if Chetan Sakariya can be tried as left-arm option, whether Devdutt Padikkal or Shreyas Iyer gets fit to play by then.

Not to forget that Prithvi Shaw's international career could get a boost with this white ball tournament, with Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan already had their debuts recently.

Probable squad for the Limited overs Sri Lanka tour:

Shikhar Dhawan(C), Prithvi Shaw, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson(wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan(wk), Hardik Pandya, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Krunal Pandya, Rahul Tewatia, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, T Natarajan, Rahul Chahar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jaydev Unadkat, Riyan Parag, Kuldeep Yadav, Kartik Tyagi.

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Postponed IPL games can't be played in India? BCCI President Sourav Ganguly with the updates

Mumbai: With halfway into the tournament Indian Premiere League(IPL) was postponed due to COVID-19 cases inside the bio bubbles of teams playing in the league. BCCI President and forcer India Captain Sourav Ganguly with the recent updates regarding the postponed matches said the remainder of the suspended Indian Premier League season will have to be played outside the country.

The most decorated T20 league in the World was suspended indefinitely last week after several members in the bio bubble were tested positive for COVID-19. India reported 366,161 new COVID-19 infections on Monday, taking the caseload to 22.66 million. BCCI president Sourav Ganguly told Sportstar magazine that COVID-19 restrictions meant it is impossible to stage the remaining games in India. Since the quarantine period in India is strict 14 days without practice.

Source: BCCI

"There are lots of organisational hazards like 14-day quarantine. It can't happen in India," Ganguly said.

"This quarantine is tough to handle. Too early to say how we can find a slot to complete the IPL"

Interestingly, England Cricket and former English players are keen to host the remaining matches in September, but a BCCI official said on Friday they are yet to discuss the offer. Last year's IPL was played in the United Arab Emirates because of the pandemic.

England Cricket will pitch their offers to the BCCI for the lucrative league to be played in their backyard. Ganguly also said India would play three ODI's and five T20I's in Sri Lanka in July though the BCCI is likely to send a limited overs specialist squad not starring any big names.

Indian test team is due to leave for England in early June for the World Test Championship final in Southampton against New Zealand. They will then play a five-Test series against England.

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'BCCI don't have infinite wealth' BCCI slams Virat Kohli's 'Bio Bubble concerns'

Mumbai: India completed an all format sweep against England at home recently, with back to back bio bubbles of IPL 2020, Australia tour and home tour of England Virat Kohli raised concerns over the hectic schedule for the players in the post match presentation of the final ODI between India and England at Pune’s Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium. A BCCI official slams Virat Kohli's 'Bio Bubble concerns'.

"As I said, a couple of days ago as well, scheduling is something that needs to be looked at in the future," Kohli had said during the ceremony. "Because playing in bubbles for so long, two-three months is going to be very, very difficult going forward."

Expressing his hopes of seeing a change in the schedule, the skipper added: "You can't expect everyone to be at the same level of mental strength… Sometimes you do get cooked, and you do feel like a bit of change. I'm sure that things will be discussed and things will change in the future as well."

But BCCI officials have slammed Virat Kohli over this issue.

Speaking with ANI, the official said: “Firstly, contrary to assumptions, the BCCI’s wealth is not infinite. Secondly, the stock of the domestic cricketers deserves a greater amount of attention, especially when the outcome of the review of player payments that was undertaken about three years back was quite ad-hoc and was skewed heavily in the favour of a few while bypassing those who were made the poster boys of that review.”

“Thirdly, there is an increase in the number of state associations who have a steep task facing them to develop the game in their regions which they had not done earlier and this is in addition to the existing associations who have been struggling to meet their own standards with the shakeup that has taken away experience across the board,” he explained.

“Everything is screaming for financial correction at the moment but the thing that has left the largest impact is the COVID-19 pandemic and the reduction in matches as a consequence thereof. Add to it the varying quarantine rules and you have a situation that is not in control of the BCCI, but must be strictly adhered to by the BCCI.”

The official then went on to talk about how Kohli had nothing to say about the completely packed Indian Premier League schedule and that it can be “presumed” that the batsman is fine with it.

“Kohli has raised a very important point while talking about international games where he spoke about the importance of scheduling, going forward and he does have the luxury to raise this point. But he has not expressed any reservations regarding the scheduling of the IPL, so one presumes that he is okay with that and the possible increase in the number of games once the two new teams are added later this year,” he expressed.

“One needs to bear in mind that a reduction in international matches means a reduction in the revenue of the BCCI and consequently a reduction in the revenue of the state associations and the domestic players. The revenue of the contracted players of the BCCI is insulated even if there is a reduction in the number of home international games, but the revenue of the others is not,” he also mentioned.

By the series of events, Virat Kohli is being questioned about him not having issues with tight IPL schedule because of the 'hefty money' involved in the league. But he has series issues with the National team schedules.

Ironically Virat Kohli gets paid more than twice of the annual BCCI contracts

(7 CR) in the IPL(17 CR). No wonder BCCI officials have raised the question for Virat not having issues where more money is involved.

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Why does nobody criticise Virat Kohli despite consistent poor performances?

The real question for the Cricket world especially in India is, Why does nobody criticise Virat Kohli despite consistent poor performances?

Is It all about the PR agents in the modern day cricket? 

Why is Virat Kohli always considered as if he runs the sport around in the country, Why does cricket experts shy away from speaking on his failures and criticising him?

Why does Sports Analysts criticise Virat on his failures? Do these sports analysts, former players and media personalities favor Virat Kohli just because he is the captain?

If some player fails or performs ordinary for few games the news of dropping that player is hyped by the team management and the media personalities. Working hand in hand?

If Virat Kohli fails, it is just sidelined as ‘one bad game’, ‘just a rough patch’, ‘he is not in bad form just short of runs’ Why?

Who is criticised for ducks in Indian cricket? Surely not Virat Kohli, right? But the stats shows he has second most ducks by Indians since he debuted. But no articles about the stats on any sports sites?

Players like Rohit, Rahane, Pujara, Ashwin, Pant, Jadeja, Rayudu, Dhawan, Shankar, Raina, Yuvraj, Kuldeep were dropped just after few bad games but when Kohli fails he is not even criticised because these PR agents decide not to do it?

Kohli has the most loss percentage in SENA tests by any Indian captain in the history, but no one will put these stats/facts, they are just a PR agent trying to prove how good Kohli is. Do they try to hide his flaws?

If someone criticises Virat Kohli, he/she will receive backlash (even if he is a former Great of the game) from his fans without knowing the facts.

Also Kohli averages mere 25 away from home in this World Test Championship, now imagine had any other batsman scored at just 25 away from home he would be called ‘Home Track Bully’ but these media personalities hide such performances of Kohli and prove him good. Instead they will criticise others.

When Team India wins these PR agents says “Wow! Kohli’s team, what a performance” When Team India loses they will say “Oh its a team game, the team played badly”. Why such special treatment?

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